As if losing do-everything point guard Spencer Dinwiddie to a torn ACL wasn’t enough, No. 21 Colorado announced on Tuesday that freshman reserve wing Tre’Shaun Fletcher will be out 6-8 weeks after undergoing surgery on his left knee.

Fletcher, who has averaged 3.5 points per game in 10.2 minutes of action, was also injured in the first half Sunday’s loss to Washington. He returned to play in the second half, but then came Tuesday’s diagnosis.

Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle, whose team beat Kansas on a buzzer-beater in December, knows the task he’s faced with is exceptionally daunting. Colorado’s next game is Thursday at home vs. No. 25 UCLA.

“Absolutely . . . it makes my job harder, no question about that,” Boyle said. “(But) it’s part of athletics, I don’t care what sport you play . . . everybody goes through it. We are right now; we’re down two guys, two athletic, long good basketball players. So yeah, we’re all challenged. Our players are challenged, our coaches are challenged. And guess what, our fans are going to be challenged, too.

“Thursday night is going to be a great environment in here; we’re going to need their energy and these guys on the floor are going to need to know that they believe in them—which I know they do. There’s been a lot of well-wishes for our program and for Spencer, but that all goes away when that thing’s tipped up on Thursday night. It’s game on and we’ve got to be ready to fight and scratch and claw and do whatever we’ve got to do to get a win.”